We are down to 21 teams in this week’s power rankings, with many teams already booking their position in the playoffs, while others need to start performing if they want to have any chance.
Our rankings are based upon a number of factors, including recent level of play, injuries, and quality wins.
1.Colorado Avalanche
Stanley Cup Odds: +450
Record: 34-12-4
Last Week’s Ranking: 2
With 3 wins from 4 games, the Avs did enough to reclaim the top spot on the power rankings They were underpowered in their first match of the week against the Golden Knights, but bounced back as they began a long 4 game set against the Sharks.
HERE WE GO#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/tffy3xFONo
— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 23, 2021
The first 2 games were played in Colorado and saw the Avs pick up a shutout win in the first, and a tight 4-3 win in the second before heading to San Jose where they clawed their way back into the game and won 5-4 in overtime.
Mikko Rantanen has been immense over the series thus far, picking up points in each of the 3 games with 3 goals and 4 assists in total.
2.Vegas Golden Knights
Stanley Cup Odds: +550
Record: 36-13-2
Last Week’s Ranking: 1
The Golden Knights drop down to 2nd this week after winning 2 of the 4 games they played. They started the week off incredibly strong with a convincing win over the Stanley Cup favourites, the Avs, recording their 10th straight victory.
They couldn’t keep that form going into what should have been a fairly routine win against the Coyotes on Friday, but they got some revenge against them the following day.
The Knights then traveled to Minnesota and kicked off a 2 game set with the Wild, they were up 5-3 at the end of the third term and looked like good value for the win, however the Wild shocked them with 3 quick goals to take the 2 points.
3.Tampa Bay Lightning
Stanley Cup Odds: +700
Record: 35-14-3
Last Week’s Ranking: 3
Following a successful week which saw them claim 7 points from a possible 8 against some admittedly easy opposition, the Lightning stay in third place.
The week started strong with convincing wins over the Blackhawks and Stars before travelling to Detroit to play the Red Wings. They surprisingly lost the first game in a shootout, they bounced back the next day with a narrow 2-1 win.
4.Carolina Hurricanes
Stanley Cup Odds: +1100
Record: 35-10-7
Last Week’s Ranking: 4
The Canes probably could have earnt a move up the ranks this week following a flawless string of games which saw them take maximum points from the bottom table teams.
They won 3 of their 4 games convincingly, with the fourth game against the Blue Jackets going to overtime to decide the winner.
Sebastian Aho is enjoying one of his best strings of form and has been crucial to their success, the young winger has 9 points over the last 4 games played, including a hat trick in their most recent victory.
5.Minnesota Wild
Stanley Cup Odds: +2200
Record: 33-14-4
Last Week’s Ranking: 6
Despite only winning 2 of their 4 games played, the Wild earn a jump up the ranks this week. They had a tough run of fixtures which saw them play the Blues over 3 games followed by the first of a 2 game set against the Knights.
They got off to a rough start with back to back losses against the Blues, however still picked up a point in the second game. They flipped the script in the third with an overtime win before mounting an epic comeback over the Knights yesterday.
The Wild both scored, and conceded 17 goals this week, with Kevin Fiala either scoring or assisting 7 of them.
Hear from #mnwild Head Coach Dean Evason after tonight’s win!
More » https://t.co/S2HzIw6r8L pic.twitter.com/12BbIRg0Zw
— x – Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) May 4, 2021
6.Toronto Maple Leafs
Stanley Cup Odds: +750
Record: 33-13-6
Last Week’s Ranking: 6
The Maple Leafs move northward up the rankings following a solid string of games which saw them take 7 points from a possible 8.
They were dialled in at the start of the week as they extended their win streak to 5 straight, including a win over the Canadiens and a 2 game sweep over the Canucks, scoring 13 goals while conceding just 3.
Their only slip up came against the Canadiens yesterday as they lost 3-2 in overtime, but still picked up a point for a 6th straight game.
7.Florida Panthers
Stanley Cup Odds: +2000
Record: 35-14-5
Last Week’s Ranking: 9
The highly elastic Panthers jump back up the rankings, a well earnt move considering their impressive 4 game win streak which saw them get some revenge over the Predators, sweep the Blackhawks over 2 games in Chicago, and narrowly scrape past the Stars in overtime.
The Panthers are scoring goals for fun at the moment, with a whopping 21 goals from their last 4 games, 4 of which came from the skipper, Aleksander Barkov, including the game winning goal against the Stars.
8.Pittsburgh Penguins
Stanley Cup Odds: +1400
Record: 34-16-3
Last Week’s Ranking: 8
The Penguins lost 2 of their 4 games since our last power ranking, however, for their 2 game sweep over the Capitals they remain in 8th place as the highest ranked team in the east.
Either side of their impressive performances against the division leaders, the Penguins dropped points to the Bruins, and were completely stunned by the Flyers in a 7-2 dismantling yesterday.
They get a chance at revenge today before heading to Buffalo to play their final 2 games of the year against the Sabres.
9.Washington Capitals
Stanley Cup Odds: +1300
Record: 33-14-5
Last Week’s Ranking: 5
The Caps receive a harsh drop southward down the ranks, thanks in part to the solid performances of other teams in the league, as well as their tandem home defeats to the Penguins.
They still picked up 2 wins this week though, first finalising a 3 game sweep over the Islanders on Tuesday, and most recently disposing of the other team in New York, the Rangers, 6-3.
10.Boston Bruins
Stanley Cup Odds: +1300
Record: 31-14-6
Last Week’s Ranking: 13
The Bruins jump 3 places this week thanks to a perfect week which saw them win 4 straight, the equal longest active record in the NHL.
🎥 Coach Cassidy on the #NHLBruins clinching a playoff berth: “You play for an opportunity to play for the Cup, right? So we’ve accomplished the first part of that.” pic.twitter.com/HpS8DIWRce
— x – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 4, 2021
The wins came against the Penguins, the Sabres over 2 games in Boston, and most recently the Devils in the first of a 2 game set. While not the most difficult opposition, the Bruins were clinical in victory, scoring 17 goals while conceding just 5 goals over the 4 wins.
11.Edmonton Oilers
Stanley Cup Odds: +2000
Record: 30-17-2
Last Week’s Ranking: 11
The Oilers maintain the 11th seed on the power rankings and may have been unlucky to not be higher following a 6 point week which saw them win 3 of 4 played.
They picked up wins over the Jets, and the Canucks yesterday, losing only once at the hands of the Flames in the first of a 2 game set, but came out and got some revenge in the second match.
Unsurprisingly, much of their success has come off the back of Connor McDavid, the NHL’s greatest player has notched an incredible 22 points in his last 8 games, including a 4 point haul in their most recent game.
12.New York Islanders
Stanley Cup Odds: +1400
Record: 31-16-5
Last Week’s Ranking: 10
With a 4-5-1 record over the last 10 games, the Islanders are the third worst performing side in the East Division. This week they lost a third straight game to the Capitals in the form of a 1-0 shutout, followed by a surprising 4-2 defeat to the Sabres.
In the middle of the week they did record an ideal 2 game sweep over the Rangers, shutting out their cross town rivals in both games while scoring 7 goals.
13.Nashville Predators
Stanley Cup Odds: +2800
Record: 29-22-2
Last Week’s Ranking: 12
The Predators had a successful week, splitting the points with the Panthers in a 2 game set to start things off, followed by back to back overtime wins over the Stars and Blue Jackets respectively.
Whilst the latter wins did not come easily by any means, their importance can not be overstated as the Preds pulled 4 points away from the Stars who are their only threat to making the playoffs.
14.St Louis Blues
Stanley Cup Odds: +2400
Record: 24-19-7
Last Week’s Ranking: 15
The Blues claim the 14th seed following a near perfect win which saw them claim 7 points from a possible 8. The St Louis team beat the Wild away from home in back to back games, and were an overtime away from a 3 game sweep on Saturday.
The Blues then returned home to begin a 2 game series with the Ducks, winning the first game by a comfortable 3-1.
With 24 wins to their name, the Blues are quite remarkably one of just two teams that have not kept a clean sheet this season, yet they have kept their opponent to 1 goal on 9 occasions.
15.Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup Odds: +2200
Record: 24-18-9
Last Week’s Ranking: 18
The Canadiens finally had a positive week, recording consecutive wins for the first time since the start of April. All 4 of their games this week were played in Montreal, starting off with a defeat to the Maple Leafs before claiming the scalps of the Jets, Senators and the Maple Leafs yesterday.
Surprisingly, two of the Habs’ wins came in overtime, a situation that they have struggled with this season, prior to this week they were 1-6 in overtime.
16.Winnipeg Jets
Stanley Cup Odds: +2000
Record: 27-21-3
Last Week’s Ranking: 17
Of the 16 teams who currently sit in a playoff position, the Jets are by far and away the worst performing side, only earning a jump up the ranks due to the fact that their place in the playoffs is fairly safe.
🎥 #JetsTV’s @MitchellClinton has the Three Takeaways as the #NHLJets fall to the Senators. pic.twitter.com/aA4GNGfRis
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) May 4, 2021
The Jets’ suffering didn’t get any better this week as they saw their losing streak extend to 7 straight games, they previously hadn’t lost more than 2 consecutive games for the entire year.
17.Dallas Stars
Stanley Cup Odds: +4400
Record: 21-17-14
Last Week’s Ranking:
The Stars couldn’t keep the momentum going this week, losing all 4 games they played since last week’s rankings, now finding themselves 4 points from a playoff position with 1 less game played than the Preds.
It was an admittedly tough set of fixtures for the 5th place Stars, playing each of the top 4 teams in the division once, claiming 2 points via sending their match against the Preds and Panthers to overtime.
18.Arizona Coyotes
Stanley Cup Odds: +25000
Record: 22-25-6
Last Week’s Ranking: 22
The Coyotes briefly tasted victory this week when they got up over the Golden Knights 3-0 on Friday, but their winning ways didn’t last as the Knights came out the next day and beat them in overtime.
Either side of their 2 game set with the Knights, the Coyotes lost to both the Sharks and the Kings. With 5 points separating them from the Blues in 4th, and 3 extra games played, a playoff appearance looks next to impossible for the Coyotes.
19.Los Angeles Kings
Stanley Cup Odds: +25000
Record: 20-24-6
Last Week’s Ranking: 23
The Kings recorded 2 wins from 4 games played last week, picking up wins over the Ducks, and most recently, the Coyotes.
With both wins decided by just 1 goal, neither performance was entirely convincing, nor did the Kings impress offensively or defensively, scoring 9 goals while conceding 12 over the last 4 games.
20.Calgary Flames
Stanley Cup Odds: +25000
Record: 22-25-3
Last Week’s Ranking: 21
The Flames have almost no hope of making the playoffs this season, they are 10 points away with just 6 games left to play, with their best chance coming from the underperforming Jets, although, even then the Flames would have to be nearly perfect.
They were only seen twice since the last ranking, first picking up a solid win over the Oilers only to lose to them yesterday.
“For our team as a group, we need at least 30 shots consistently.”
Dillon Dube talks about generating more offence and capitalizing on opportunities. pic.twitter.com/gNF8NxHPdU
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) May 2, 2021
21.Vancouver Canucks
Stanley Cup Odds: +25000
Record: 19-24-3
Last Week’s Ranking: 24
Similarly to the Flames, we don’t expect to be seeing the Canucks amongst the rankings next week. They recorded their 5th straight defeat at the hands of the Oilers yesterday, and have conceded 5 goals on average over the last 4 games played.
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
